ROTC Hall of Fame Inductees for 2013

The late Capt.
Gerardus A. Backhaus

Born in Nazi-occupied Holland in 1942, Backhaus immigrated to the United States with his family in the 1950s. He graduated from high school in Eldred, Pa., and attended St. Bonaventure University on an academic scholarship. Joining the Army ROTC program, he continued his studies and obtained a pilot’s license through instruction at an airstrip adjacent to the St. Bonaventure Golf Course.

Upon graduation in 1965, Backhaus was commissioned a Field Artillery second lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve and completed officers’ training. In January 1966, he was called to active duty for three years. He completed the Officer Fixed Wing Aviator Course and reported to the Republic of South Vietnam as a fixed wing pilot in June 1967. Assigned to the 1st Aviation Brigade, he subsequently was ordered to Pleiku in the II Corps area and assigned to the 219th Aviation Company. He began flying missions as the solo pilot in a two-seat Cessna O-1G “Bird Dog” Forward Air Controller aircraft in and around Da Nang, Kontum and Qui Nhon, where he often supported isolated U.S. Special Forces teams near their remote camps.

In early 1968, Backhaus was transferred to the 203rd Reconnaissance Airplane Company, but continued to fly the Bird Dog as a spotter for artillery and in support of ground combat units. During a Feb. 2, 1968, mission in support of U.S. Military Assistance Command-Vietnam (MACV) forces attached to a Vietnamese regional force company operating north of Qui Nhon in the hamlet of Binh Than, Backhaus distinguished himself “for heroism while participating in aerial flight evidenced by voluntary actions above and beyond the call of duty.”

When the company came under heavy automatic and small weapons fire, Backhaus made repeated low level passes over the area to draw fire away from the ground troops and to pinpoint the enemy positions, into which he fired two white phosphorus rockets. This allowed the friendly troops to disengage, but when he saw the enemy setting up a machine gun, Backhaus took further independent action. For his actions that day, Backhaus was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Having been promoted to captain, Backhaus returned to the United States after one year in Vietnam and completed the pilot instructor course at the U.S. Army Aviation School before being honorably discharged. In addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross, Backhaus received the Air Medal with 27 Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and the Army Aviator Badge.

He continued to fly as a commercial pilot for several years with TWA, then worked in the insurance industry before attending the New York University School of Law. Following admission to the state Bar, he returned to Olean, where he practiced law as a member of the firm Hornburg, Diggs, and Marks, P.C. He eventually became a partner in the firm and remained with his friends and colleagues as it evolved.

In addition to his private practice, Backhaus served for several years as an assistant district attorney in Cattaraugus County, and as the attorney for the village of Allegany. He was dedicated to the representation of children in Family Court and retired from Backhaus & Simon, P.C. in 2008. He and his wife then moved to Texas, where he passed away in 2010 following a short battle with cancer, leaving behind his wife, Patricia, and four children.

Diane L. (Meserve) Dunn

Dunn graduated in 1988 from Houghton College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. She was also a cadet in the St. Bonaventure University Seneca Battalion Army ROTC program, through which she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Adjutant General Corps.

Dunn joined the Maine Army National Guard and served in the 52nd Troop Command as an assistant S1. In 1989, she was assigned to the 121st Public Affairs Detachment as the community relations officer and later the broadcast officer. In 1992, she joined the 286th Petroleum Supply Battalion, where she served as the S1 and HHD commander. In 1995, she was assigned to the 52nd Troop Command as an Assistant S1 and later as the S1.

In 1997, Dunn transitioned to Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) status and was assigned to the 286th Petroleum Supply Battalion, where she served as the training officer, S2/3 and later as the executive officer. She began a three-year assignment as an assistant professor of Military Science at the University of Maine in 2002, after which she returned to drilling Guardsman status and became branch chief of the Maine State Joint Force Headquarters.

After successful command of the 240th Regional Training Institute, Maine Army National Guard, from January 2006 to May 2007, she was selected for and commanded the 286th Combat Service Support Battalion from May 2007 until March 2010. During her tenure as a battalion commander, she was mobilized and commanded Task Force Dirigo of Joint Sustainment Command-Afghanistan, which conducted sustainment operations for coalition forces in Regional Command South, Kandahar, Afghanistan, from January through December 2009.

The first female to command a Maine National Guard battalion in combat, Dunn’s unit supported the first Afghan buildup by transporting equipment, supplies and building materials to numerous forward operating bases, including Forward Operating Base Leatherneck, Helmand province, in support of the U.S. Marines.

Dunn served next as the J716 Branch Chief, U.S. Northern Command, in Colorado Springs, Col., for one year before returning to become the Pre-mobilization Training and Assistance Element Officer in Charge of the Maine Army National Guard. She is currently assigned as the Region 1 Vigilant Guard Exercise Planner. Having branch transferred to the Quartermaster Corps in 1994, she transitioned to the Logistics branch in 2008 and was selected by the Department of the Army for promotion to colonel in November 2011. In addition to her career as an Army officer, she has been a small business owner.

Dunn holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Maine and a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.

Her awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with M Device, NATO Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal.

She is also an inducted member of the Transportation Honorable Order of St. Christopher.

A native Mainer, she and her husband, Jim, have three children, Kayla, Kristen and Marcus, and a granddaughter, Aaliyah.

K. James Evans, Ph.D.

Evans was raised in New Kensington, Pa., and attended Grove City College on an Air Force ROTC scholarship. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1970. His initial assignment was to Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., where he served as a Minuteman 1 Weapon System Missile Launch Officer for the in the 44th Strategic Missile Wing, 67th Strategic Missile Squadron. Evans served in this position for more than two years before he was honorably discharged in December of 1972 in the midst of the Vietnam War military drawdown. While at Ellsworth Air Force Base he completed his master’s degree in education from South Dakota State University.

Upon leaving military service, Evans moved to Pittsburgh, where he began doctoral studies at the University of Pittsburgh. While at the University of Pittsburgh, he served as a graduate assistant in the Office of Student Activities from 1973-1974, beginning a distinguished career in higher education student affairs. In August 1974, he accepted the position of assistant director of residence life at Duquesne University and in August 1976 he was named the dean of students at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford (UPB), where he has served ever since.

Evans completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh in 1980. In 1994, Evans’ title was changed to vice president and dean of student affairs. His areas of responsibilities in this position include Admissions, Career Services, Community Engagement, Counseling Services, Financial Aid, Greek Life, Health Services, Judicial Affairs, New Student Orientation, Residential Life, Housing and Student Activities.

Among Evans’ significant accomplishments in his career at UPB was his leadership role in establishing a cross-enrollment agreement with St. Bonaventure, which opened the door for UPB students to take Army ROTC courses at St. Bonaventure and sign contracts with the U.S. Army for future service as Army Officers. His professionalism and commitment were integral to an agreement that the presidents of the two institutions and Brigadier General Cecil Adams signed in 1980, which formalized the pathway to commissioned service as Army officers that Evans had envisioned.

Since then, Evans has served as the liaison officer for the Army ROTC program at UPB. He has provided unparalleled support, mentorship and encouragement to hundreds of UPB cadets who have enrolled in ROTC classes. His legacy is realized in the service, accomplishments and sacrifice of the eighteen UPB students who have been commissioned as U.S. Army officers during this time period.

Evans has not limited his leadership and mentoring talents to one service, as he was also selected among a core of higher education administrators to lead two “Semester at Sea” programs for the Institute of Shipboard Education. In this capacity, Evans’ responsibilities included serving as executive dean for more than 1,500 undergraduate students from several hundred colleges and universities during a 15-week semester travelling around the world by ship.

He also has accumulated a remarkable record of service to his community. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of the Bradford Area, as well as an elected member of the Bradford City Council. Additionally, he has completed more than nine years of service on the Board of Representatives for Penn State Public Broadcasting (WPSU), where he chaired the Education Committee. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

Evans is married to Dr. Lisa Fiorentino, who serves as the director of the Nursing and Radiological Science Program at UPB.